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A Dry, Hot Future for California

Everyone knows that California has always struggled with clean water shortages. California is also known to be the victims wildfires nearly every summer season. This combination is very dangerous for the residents of California – both for their safety and their wallets.

Usually these problems contain themselves to the summer months, but this year it has been different. The 2017-2018 winter season has been one of the driest winters in history for the State of California. This is the reason why California is now considering hefty, permanent fines for water wasters. Previously these types of fines were only around during a declared water shortage, now even if a shortage of water isn’t in affect if you waste water, you will be fined.

The exact set of rules were in place for a total of 3 years while the state was under emergency orders. The order was executed by Governor Brown and now the orders could become permanent law.

If the rules are made permanent then California residents will have to adjust their daily lives to avoid being fined. A number of activities and tasks will be made illegal including but not limited to, over irrigation of the lawn, washing your motor vehicle with a hose, and running a non circulating decorative water fountain.

If another drought hits California this summer, citizens will be thanking Jerry Brown and the rest of the state government for reinforcing these temporary rules. On the other hand, if California has a particularly rainy season, it would be no surprise if citizens attempted to revoke these rulings or ignore them completely.

Another major issue with California are its wildfires and during an emergency water shortage, you can see where the problem gets worse.

The 2017 California wildfire season burned over 1.3 million acres and cost its tax payers over 13 billion dollars. There were 46 known fatalities and over 200 more injured in 2017 from wildfires.

In 2014, scientists found that human interference is definitely related to the increase in wildfires in the state. The study stated, “The increase in extreme fire risk is expected [to arrive] within the next decade.”

In this time of peril, it is important for California residents to do everything they can to conserve water and decrease their carbon footprint.